Another aspect of carnaval that we haven't mentioned yet is "los globos de agua" - aka, water balloons! Two weeks prior to carnaval we started noticing kids with water balloons and water guns around the street. At times you could see parents driving around their pickup trucks with their kids in the back, throwing water balloons at people along the road. Up until carnaval we managed to stay dry, except for the occasion "drive by squirting."
But then Carnaval actually started...
Friday, I (Jennie) was working outside of the city, so at 6:30pm I jumped on a micro (public transportation) and started to head downtown. Along the drive there were all kinds of people in the streets, mostly kids, enjoying a little water fight. But as we got closer to the city, things seems to intensify. Once we turned down the main street, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It hadn't rained for several days but it looked like it had rained all afternoon. There were remnants of water balloons everywhere. There were tons of people everywhere, and 90% of them were completely drenched! There were old Bolivian ladies on every street corner filling up water balloons and selling them. People had purchased this white foam stuff and were spraying it at each other. The further up the street we went the more people there were. People with instruments were gathering in the street and people were crowding around dancing. Finally, the bus driver turned around and said he wasn't going to try to drive any further! The crowds had completely taken over one of the busiest streets in town and it had become impassable.
Great! I still had a good 4-5 blocks to walk in order to get home. Luckily I had a hooded sweatshirt on, so I put up my hood and did my best to blend into the crowds. The first chance I had to get off the main road I took. Just as I turned off the main road, I noticed a huge puddle of water on the sidewalk. I glanced up and saw 4 heads peering over the balcony at me. I immediately though, "Oh no, here it comes!", I put my head down and walked as briskly as I could, but it was two late. I got nailed! That was my only run in with los globos, and I made it home without any other incidents.
John had a similar experience earlier in the week on the way home from work when he got caught by a group of youth dumping buckets of water off a house balcony. Once again, John was lucky that Bolivians (especially drunk ones) have no aim and he escaped with only a few drops of water on his back pack.
We pretty much stayed in for most of the weekend. But, living on the 5th floor, we couldn't help but join in on this part of celebrating carnaval.
We tried to be prepared at all times!
1 comment:
So funny! Chris and I were laughing out loud!
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